beauty

The same day the news announced “Katrina Leaves Dozens Dead,” my server’s news rotated this headline as an equivalent top story: “How did Jessica, Denise and Others Get So Slim and Fit? See Their Secrets.”

Think maybe our culture has messed-up priorities?

Want more evidence? Americans spend more than $8 billion annually on cosmetic surgery. But it’s not just this side of the Atlantic where we're forking over cash. The Scotsman reports that four in ten teenage girls in the UK consider plastic surgery.

Easter morning: My eyes pop open to the strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. My sister and I know to expect Bev Gallucci's version of "He's Alive" next, and that means one thing.

It's one of the few mornings a year sleep holds no temptation for us. As Bev's soprano voice reaches notes in the stratosphere, my dad bursts into the room. He sings at the top of his lungs with a goofy grin. "He's alive!"